Barcelona food

June 1st 2011

Despite technically being in Barcelona for the festival, we still found some time for yummy noms in town. We were very happy to stumble across Rosa del Raval for a late lunch after checking into the hotel. A Mexican taqueria with 3,50 euro margaritas, decent tacos and burritos, and plenty of veggie choices – always a winner for me.

That evening, we went to the restaurant right next door to Rosa, Anima. A really delicious menu of Asian-influenced Mediterranean dishes, like teriyaki steak with fondant potatoes and rocket, housed in an industrial-chic interior. Really friendly service; even a power cut during dessert (stewed apples with panna cotta) didn’t deter from a really great dinner, and it was excellent value.

We lunched the next day at Tapas24, having tried to eat there the previous night but finding a queue out the door – no surprise when the head chef is ex-El Bulli pedigree. The food was fantastic and the patient waiter let me adapt some dishes to be veggie — the burrata cheese with pesto and confit tomatoes was particularly amazing. Other hits were veg tempura, patatas bravas, and croquettas – lots of deep-fried goodness, basically.

Another nice – slightly lighter – lunch the next day at Fastvinic, a poshed-up sandwich bar with focus on design and sustainability. My aubergine and local Catalan cheese baguette was really tasty. There are even big recycling machines that dispose of your leftovers with a pleasing whir and crunch.

One final lunch place to recommend, Habaluc, where 13,90 euros will get you three courses from a concise but tasty menu with plenty of veggie options. Plus there’s a counter of yummy-looking takeaway cakes and pastries.

We ate at the festival site every evening apart from the first, which is a bit of a shame as there are loads more restaurants I would have liked to have tried in town. But for festival catering it was pretty good, even including a stall from artisan bakery Barcelona Reykjavik, as well an some amusingly punny musical offerings.